Primary design for internal combustion engines, more particularly to motorcycle engines, has been “V-twin” engines, where two cylinders of the engine are arranged in a V-type configuration, enclosing an angle (e.g., 78°) between them. Although widely used, the V-twin engines inherently suffer from vibration issues. As such, imbalances in the V-twin engine caused by reciprocating parts moving up and down or back and forth inside the engine, causes vibrational issues in such engines. In addition, imbalances in the reciprocating parts (meaning they go back and forth or up and down inside the engine) and pulses descending from the combustion event itself—the ignition of fuel and air in the cylinder head. In other words, there is a kind of shake or vibration that is part of that engine's very design, present regardless of the power produced, and yet another that is the result of laying down the torque—much of this is the throb you feel as the bike launches away from the stoplight. To reduce vibration in such engines, typically counter balances and/or rubber frame mounts are added to the engine. As such, adding these counter balances and frame mounts makes the engine heavier, complicated, and more cumbersome.
Another type of engine that is commonly used is the “boxer” engine which includes 180° or horizontally opposed engines. Typically, the boxer engine has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft, and as such, the opposing cylinders are effective in cancelling out vibrations arising in the two cylinders. Due to the balanced layout of the opposing cylinders, the boxer engine may not need a balance shaft or counterweights on the crankshaft to balance the weight of the reciprocating parts, however, in the case of boxer engines with fewer than six cylinders, unbalanced moments (a reciprocating torque also known as a “rocking couple”) are unavoidable due to the “opposite” cylinders being slightly out of line with each other. In addition, the boxer engine suffers from clearance issues, because of which the engines are put high above the ground. In addition, because of the square shape of the boxer engines, the cylinder heads tend to stick out, specifically in motorcycle frames. As a result, while taking a tight turn, the cylinder head may hit the ground. In view of these aforementioned issues with engine designs, there is a need for a compact, simple, and more efficient engine system with reduced noise and vibrations.